Interviews

THE JAMES SCOTT INTERVIEW – DAYS OF OUR LIVES

EJ Wells found himself in several predicaments in the last several weeks. First, he is still in the dark about the daughter he just baptized, and that the woman he finally made love to, is lying about being the baby’s mother! Then, there’s the love of his life, Samantha, who has just returned from being in the Witness Protection Program with another man in tow! Not to mention that his brother Tony is stirring up all sorts of trouble, which will lead to his ultimate downfall, and then, throw in EJ’s business projects that are all twisted and tangled and you’ve got more plotlines than any character can handle.

Days of our Lives heartthrob, James Scott, certainly seems to be carrying quite a heavy load on his shoulders, so we got down to business to answer some of the questions that “Jami” and “DAYS” fans want to know about all the shenanigans in Salem.

Listen to the audio:

Last week on “DAYS” Nicole and EJ baptized Sydney, and EJ is still in the dark about Nicole’s baby machinations. How long will this go on, that he will remain clueless?

JAMES:

One can only imagine he will be clueless for a while. There are no indications that this storyline is about to come to a conclusion anytime soon.

MICHAEL:

Is that daunting?

JAMES:

Well, most of the soap operas play the same beats, but what is interesting is trying to make them feel fresh. But still is it daunting? I wouldn’t say so. It’s always interesting to get new scripts and see how the writers are going to get Nicole out of it for another day, week, or whenever it may be.

MICHAEL:

Does it ever feel to you that the writers dummy down EJ?

JAMES:

Well, there have certainly been times when I have said to the producers, “Look, this guy is not this stupid.” Nobody is, and we have to try to make some changes, and it’s complicated. On the one hand, they want to tease the story without giving it away, and more often than not, they want to tease it to the person who doesn’t know where the stakes are highest, and he finds out. Yet, he does not find out for a little while. It’s a very thin line, and quite a lot of the skill of good soap opera is knowing how to dangle that just far enough away for one character, so that he or she won’t look like a complete idiot!

MICHAEL:

How has it been working with Arianne Zuker (Nicole)?

JAMES:

Arianne is a pleasure to work with! I have been lucky, and the circle of people that I work with are all fantastic, and certainly Arianne is a very gifted actress. So I have a lot of fun working with her, as I do with Alison Sweeney (Sami). I also have worked along with Joe Mascolo (Stefano) and Thaao Penghlis (Tony), who are strong, strong actors who give you a great deal.

MICHAEL:

Will “Jami” fans continue to be upset? And, I know we have Rafe in the picture now as a spoiler for that relationship!

JAMES:

Well, I will give you my take on that. I don’t think I am giving anything away by saying that the writers and producers, (and I can only imagine that they are aware that there is a huge amount of support for that storyline) have got to think, at some point, that they are going to pay that off and give the fans what they want. Because, if there are a lot of fans that want it, and there are a lot of them, you can be pretty sure they are not going to get it straight away. The show is very careful not to alienate fans that particularly supported a character for a long time. It’s always a natural conclusion to lots of storylines. You have the situation where EJ has a child, a daughter with Samantha, which he does not know about.

MICHAEL:

Do you think the four of them, EJ, Nicole, Sami and Rafe, will be a quadrangle for a long time? Nicole is going to get caught at some point!

JAMES:

Nicole is in a no-win situation, and let’s be honest, if you have watched soap operas for a week, you can get away with things for a certain amount of time, and then, “gosh darn it”, you always get caught. And, that is why people watch soap operas, because there is always a consequence. They may not realize that consequence for a day or two, but ultimately they do have to realize the consequences of their actions.

MICHAEL:

What was EJ’s initial reaction to seeing Sami and Rafe kiss?

JAMES:

Initially, he is surprised because the last time he saw Samantha she was going into the Witness Protection Program. There was some unsaid feeling between the two of them. EJ has moved on with Nicole, and in many ways, he has been able to move on because Samantha was not there. He doesn’t have to see her. If he had any feelings, he certainly did not have to deal with those feelings, so he put them aside. So, not only does Samantha come back into his life, but she comes back into his life with what looks like feelings for someone else. So, I think it’s primed! Obviously, I think in our own lives when we have an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend, and you see them a little bit later with somebody else, even if you parted on good terms, it’s hard to see them with somebody else. And that goes for even if you parted as good friends. It twists your stomach a little bit. Sometimes, in a good way, you are sorry with what you had with this person that you don’t have anymore.
Often, it can be difficult to watch.

MICHAEL:

When he finally makes love with Nicole, was it reactionary? Was it because he was upset seeing Sami kiss Rafe?

JAMES:

Is it reactionary? Are you joking? This poor guy’s fiancé has not had sex with him in seven months! She has been hiding this whole deal with the baby, and if he would take her clothes off, he would take one look at her and say, “My goodness darling, you are not really pregnant!” So, he hasn’t had any action! I don’t know what the boy’s done. It’s not a reaction, no. He is happy for anything he can get it.

MICHAEL:

What have you thought of the EJ and Tony feud?

JAMES:

He is my brother. I don’t think anybody who has a brother doesn’t know that when there are the two of you, and one father, that there is going to be jealousy; and especially when it’s about running the family business. If your mother and father have to choose between one of you for something, it doesn’t feel great to not be the one who is chosen. EJ is the one who is chosen. So he feels more confident than he would be otherwise. However, EJ is very upset when Tony dies.

MICHAEL:

How did you feel when you heard that Thaao would be leaving the show?

JAMES:

I was very, very, very upset to see Thaao leave the show! I have seen other people come and go, but I was particularly sorry to see him go. I love Thaao Penghlis. He is a wonderful actor. He is great to work with on set, and he can be the most difficult bugger, but that’s his charm. I really was very sad to hear it and to see it, and upset indeed! He was one of those actors that just bring something. You know, a level you don’t often find. You can give him terrible material and he will always come back with something, and he will give you something that is compelling. They were not making any choices based on quality of performances when they let him go, because he just rises above other people. I am not saying everybody. But, if you saw the Emmy nominations from last year, it was breathtaking and wonderful to see his work. I think it’s sad, and a great shame, and I wish they could have found some way around it. I think it’s a great loss for the show.

MICHAEL:

Well, the writing was on the wall, when Tony is the one who finds out Nicole’s baby switcheroo secret. There is nowhere to go from there but into an early grave!

JAMES:

I think they made the decision not to continue his contract several months ago, and that was the decision. It was instead of finding a way to get rid of Tony off the canvas, they decided to kill him.

MICHAEL:

What do you think about EJ’s involvement in the Alternative Fuels Project?

JAMES:

The Alternative Fuels Project! Now there is an interesting thing! Here is a project devised by a 12 year old. I think that’s what Melanie is, with her ex-boyfriend… who is currently in prison for being the Unabomber or something… and they came up with this multi-billion project! So, all these rich men and criminals are running around trying to get the rights to it. It’s interesting! It’s a fun story! I find it to be wholly implausible. If you throw all the implausibility and the reality of it out the window, it can be actually quite fun to watch.
So, I would advise our viewers to do that, and they will find it much more pleasant.

MICHAEL:

How is working with Alison again, after her rather short maternity leave?

JAMES:

Alison is wonderful to work with! It’s one of the great things about my time on the show. She is fun, she is professional, and it’s a great pleasure, always!

MICHAEL:

You have been working on a very special project close to your heart. Tell me about it.

JAMES:

I have an organization called “Urth Solutions” that I have been running for a couple of years, and it’s been working to help communities help themselves in other parts of the world: particularly in Bolivia and Madagascar. It’s going pretty well. It’s interesting, and thank you for asking. We are working to help communities harness some of their natural resources in a sustainable way, and in the last few months it’s been interesting. I got a telephone call recently from my guy in Madagascar, that in the town in which we were working in, one of the townspeople went to attack their president and shot 23 people including the President! After that, they were rioting in the streets! Since then, the country has gone down hill rapidly, and it’s certainly not like working in Washington. It’s been very challenging!

Listen to more of James this week on XM 24 “The Pink Channel’s” Soap Break.